Positive Discipline: The First Three Years: From Infant to Toddler–Laying the Foundation for Raising a Capable, Confident Child (Positive Discipline Library)
Make a Difference During the Most Important Years of Your Child’s Life
The months leading up to the birth of a child are filed with joy, dreams, plans—and a few worries. As a caring parent, you want to start your child out in life on the proper foundation. But where do you go for the answers to such questions as: How do I communicate with an infant who doesn’t understand words? How can I effectively teach boundaries to my toddler? Should I ever spank my child?
Over the years, millions of parents just like you have come to trust Jane Nelsen’s classic Positive Discipline series. These books offer a commonsense approach to child-rearing that so often is lacking in today’s world. In Positive Discipline: The First Three Years, you’ll learn how to use kind but firm support to raise a child who is both capable and confident. You’ll find practical solutions and solid advice on how to:
•Encourage independence and exploration while providing appropriate boundaries
•Use non-punitive methods to instill valuable social skills and positive behavior inside and outside the home
•Recognize when your child is ready to master the challenges of sleeping, eating, and potty training, and how to avoid the power struggles that often come with those lessons
•Identify your child’s temperament
•Understand what the latest research in brain development tells us about raising healthy children
•And much, much more!
Containing real-life examples of challenges other parents and caregivers have faced, Positive Discipline: The First Three Years is the one book that no parent should be without.
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars Love Jane Nelsen and her approach!
I love Jane Nelsen’s books and her approach - this is an easy read, well layed out, wonderful examples…I highly recommend this book and her follow up books for all parents & caregivers…a wonderfully simple and positive approach to raising children! 
4 Stars Good book gets better after recent update
I am a fan of positive discipline, but I do nurse my toddler and we co-sleep. So I was a bit apprehensive when I read some of the other reviews. I had read the older edition from the library and agree with posters on that edition. However, they have come out with a newer edition. Even though I thought it was pretty plain to see that they do not endorse extended nursing nor co-sleeping, they say some families choose to do and provide references if you choose to do it. And no pics of bottles, that I noticed, at least!
5 Stars Love it!
I’ve incorporated most, if not all, of their suggestions for my 15 month old twins. Tips on avoiding power struggles have been especially helpful. I will get their book about the next age group when that time comes.
5 Stars Perfect book for me!
I would recommend this book to any mother who would like to take a second look at discipline methods. The spanking, slapping, and pinching didn’t make sense to me, and I didn’t feel right doing it, but I didn’t know how else to discipline. This book shows you how to discipline positively without all the hitting and yelling and bad feelings and attitudes. It is already working with my two year old son, and i feel so much better as a mom. I’m able to relax and enjoy my son instead of feeling constantly on edge thinking I have to scold him for every little thing he does. The biggest part of positive discipline is understanding where your little one is coming from developmentally. This book is great! A must must must read!
2 Stars If you are true to Attachment Parenting ideals, this might not be for you
I read (and unfortunately bought) this book … and it does say you should not let your child sleep in your bed. It may not say you have to wean by 12 months, but it does suggest you look for weaning signs at that time … AND THEN a paragraph or two later mentions that if you decide to breastfeed beyond this point you will have critics … AND that some people breastfeed up to 6 or 8 years old. She is clearly driving people away from extended breastfeeding, probably inadvertantly, but still doing it with her presentation of the issue. Read this section yourself and see what I mean. IMHO, specifically on breastfeeding and cosleeping, the author is VERY anti-attachment parenting.
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